Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bugman1964 07-21-07, 03:18 PM	ok im playing in a large group so far we have a druid a bard a spellsword(or something like that) a fighter and me a cleric.But i cant figure out what feats I should take till I get metamagic feats. but my role wont be a heal bot since we have a druid and bard and it wont be major spell caster since we have the spell sword.And it wont be as meat shield cause of the fighter.Im a blend of all,Ive got an ac of 17 a wis bonus of +3 and my con is at 16.Im going to be throwing alot of offensive spells once i get them like cyclone and flame's.But i need to be ableto hold my own in melee. The feats I was looking at for my first feat were combat casting,dodge,power attack or some thing else.like martial weapons feat so i can use a dwarven war ax.Im a cleric of obad hai but i dont liek the thought of haveing to use a quarter staff since it doesnt do much damage. and im carying a heavy shield for the ac since my dex bonus is only +1 So what im asking is give me what you think should be my first 3 feats.Afterthat im sure ill be taking metmagic feats.
AAB 07-21-07, 04:01 PM	Combat Casting is, IMO, not necessary. Just max out Concentration. Don't worry about spending a feat to get a better weapon; use a morningstar with that shield. You wouldn't be able to use your shield with the martial weapon proficiency for a dwarven waraxe, anyways: it's a two-handed weapon. It'd be cool to be a support warrior using a longspear to set up flanks for the warriors while keeping out of danger yourself. Grab Weapon Focus to mitigate your BAB. All of this is just my opinion, though. I am by no means an optimizer.
bugman1964 07-21-07, 04:44 PM	weapon focus to mitigate BAB? please explain.Let alone what is bab?
AAB 07-21-07, 05:45 PM	BAB = Base Attack Bonus. As a cleric you gain 3/4 BAB per level, compared to a Fighter's 1/1. Therefore you, as a level 1 cleric with Weapon Focus, would have the same chance of hitting as a fighter with the same strength score and without Weapon Focus.
bugman1964 07-23-07, 07:33 AM	yeah after I asked what bab was and thought about it I realized what it meant.But that sounds like it's my best bet for a feat.
runestar 07-23-07, 07:54 AM	Weapon focus might not be that useful for a cleric on its own as it does not grant automatic proficiency with the base weapon, and a cleric's selection of weapons is not that stellar. You could consider taking war domain instead. Are you human? Consider power attack + cleave?
Grogmir 07-23-07, 08:01 AM	Level 1 is always a good time to take Improved Initive As later you'll want highier powered ones.
bugman1964 07-23-07, 08:36 AM	it's a dwarven cleric of obad hai
bugman1964 07-23-07, 11:00 AM	what would be good choices for my 2nd & 3rd feat?
tui 07-24-07, 12:45 PM	If you haven't read it already, you might want to take a look at the Cleric Handbook (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=691564).
bugman1964 07-25-07, 07:42 AM	no, I havent. thanks for the link.
zelf_gale 07-25-07, 10:52 AM	I'd either go with: Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Cleave or Combat Casting, Skill Focus (Concentration), Dodge
Averroes 07-25-07, 11:13 AM	You can't take weapon focus at level 1. Need a BAB of +1. If you've got some splat books then I would look at those turning feats. There is a couple great ones, in the complete Divine and PHB II. What's your Str at?
bugman1964 07-25-07, 12:25 PM	after reading the cleric book, I thought about Dodge since my dex isnt good, but is a +1 bonus worth it?Or should I do power attack leading into cleave.Then meta magic after that? I looked at combat casting but it isnt anything a high concentration points cant do.
dman11235 07-25-07, 01:38 PM	I say don't bother with weapon focus or dodge. Or power attack, for that matter. Assuming level 1, take augment healing, that way your healing spells go for more, and you can worry about preparing and using spells to buff your combat, like Divine Favor. The war domain would be a good choice, though. And what's wrong with quaterstaffs? I personally think that they are pretty nifty.
bugman1964 07-25-07, 03:50 PM	quarter staff + shield do not go so well.Is the augment healing a non PHB feat? I didnt see it in there?Im unfortunetly limited to PHB feats
AAB 07-25-07, 05:40 PM	quarter staff + shield do not go so well.Is the augment healing a non PHB feat? I didnt see it in there?Im unfortunetly limited to PHB feats Depending on your DM you may not want to use a shield. Since you cannot cast spells with both hands occupied you'd have to stow your weapon every time you wanted to cast or heal someone. With a two-handed weapon it's not a problem.
bugman1964 07-26-07, 09:04 AM	so on the assumption that im using a shield should i take quick draw?so that pulling out my weapon is a free action and doesnt prvoke AoO? Also If I took extra turning does that mean I could convert those extra turns into heal spells?Or are they stuck as turn spells? Still wondering where augment healing is? I also found out I can use books like complete divine and divine champion
Angerland 07-26-07, 10:53 AM	Augment healing is in Complete Divine. There are several Divine feats in Complete Warrior that you might look at, depending on your Charisma . They make use of Turning undead uses (Which btw are not spells and therefore can't be converted into healing spells). I really like: Divine Might- spend a turn per day attempt to add you Cha bonus to damage for one round. Divine Vigor - Spend a turn attempt to increase base speed by 10' and add +2hp per character level. Ask your DM about casting spells while holding a weapon and shield. Ours never made me put away a weapon to cast, but I didn't use the wepaon at the same time I was casting so that might have had something to do with it. Quick draw really isn't a good cleric feat. Improved Init can always be nice. as a full spell cast it's nice to be able to get spells off early in a fight, especially those buff spells. You may not need a shield at all. Get some big plate armor and take advantage of being able to use that Dwarven war axe as a two handed weapon as a martial weapon (War domain? Cleric of Moradin?). Gives you quite a bit more punch in combat, especially after you buff. What domains are you taking? Are you sold on cleric of Obad-hai? I wouldn't count on the druid doing much healing if I were you. Fact is they have way more cool things to do than to heal, and you are better at it, same for the Bard.
bugman1964 07-26-07, 11:17 AM	Im set on cleric of obad hai(the DM has already writen the intro campaign around this) his domains are nature based so probably fire and earth.(I dont think war is accessable to him) As far as the healing goes I've already told most of my other players that I wont be a heal bot.So most of my spells are going to be offensive/defensive spells. Ill heal if it needs to be done but I'm also not gonna be the one to stand around and heal every one all the time. I thought In the PHB it said you could sub turn undead attempts for cure spells.
tui 07-26-07, 11:46 AM	Here's what the FAQ says about casting with a shield: My DM says that my cleric has to drop his morningstar to cast spells. Is he right? Yes and no. To cast a spell with a somatic (S) component, you must gesture freely with at least one hand. (Player’s Handbook, page 140) A cleric (or any caster, for that matter) who holds a weapon in one hand and wears a heavy shield on the other arm doesn’t have a hand free to cast a spell with a somatic component (which includes most spells in the game). To cast such a spell, the character must either drop or sheathe his weapon. Another simple option is for the cleric to carry a buckler or light shield instead of a heavy shield. The buckler leaves one hand free for spellcasting, and you don’t even lose the buckler’s shield bonus to AC when casting with that hand. The light shield doesn’t give you a free hand for spellcasting, but since you can hold an item in the same hand that holds the light shield, you could switch your weapon to that hand to free up a hand for spellcasting. (You can’t use the weapon while it’s held in the same hand as your shield, of course.) The rules don’t state what type of action is required to switch hands on a weapon, but it seems reasonable to assume that it’s the equivalent of drawing a weapon (a move action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity).
BeauJest 07-26-07, 03:45 PM	use a morningstar with that shield. You wouldn't be able to use your shield with the martial weapon proficiency for a dwarven waraxe, anyways: it's a two-handed weapon. It'd be cool to be a support warrior using a longspear to set up flanks for the warriors while keeping out of danger yourself. Grab Weapon Focus to mitigate your BAB. I agree. A morningstar is good enough in close combat and for a cleric I relish using the longspear. 10' reach is great for flanking, acting as a defensive combatant, and providing enough distance to cast spells. With the longspear, power attack is very nice. Have a buckler ready in case you need the extra AC, worse case you keep it on w/ the spear and take -1 to attack, but you gain the AC bonus when your casting spells. When you get a magic buckler, it makes more sense to just keep it on since you'll probably be casting more than attacking.
bugman1964 07-27-07, 08:18 AM	Ok i re read the phb and I was way off on the trading turning for heal spells. guess I dont need extra truning.I looked through the phb2 last night and didnt really see any feats.Why is finding the first 2 feats for a cleric this hard?